Six Months After Crackdown, New York City Will Legalize Some E-Bikes

New York City will legalize the use of pedal-assist electric bikes, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday. The news should have at least some delivery cyclists breathing sighs of relief.

Previously, New York had been the only major US city to take a hard line on e-bikes. (Though legal to own, their use within city limits had been outlawed.) Just six months ago, de Blasio and the NYPD ramped up enforcement against e-bikes, targeting not only riders but also the businesses that employed them. Critics said the move punished delivery people, many of them low-income immigrants, who make a living biking long hours around the five boroughs for tips.

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The new rules legalizing and regulating pedal-assist bikes, currently being drafted by the New York City Department of Transportation, should take the pressure off some of these riders. Although throttle e-bikes that exceed 20 mph will remain illegal, the use of pedal-assist bikes—which give riders a boost every time they make a pedal revolution—will no longer be a ticketable offence. (Anyone caught riding one previously faced penalties of up to $500, while their employer could have been fined for up to $200.)

“By creating the framework for pedal-assist bicycles, our goal is to join other world cities that are opening the door for delivery workers, older or less able-bodied cyclists, and other casual aspiring cyclists to experience a safe and low-emission mode of travel,” NYCDOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said in a press release.

Bicycling has reached out to the mayor’s office to ask whether anyone previously ticketed for riding a pedal-assist bike will see their fines waived. It’s also unclear whether the use of throttle e-bikes will carry the same penalties as before.

In the meantime, cycling advocates say as long as other kinds of e-bikes remain illegal, the city should actively help delivery riders acquire bikes allowed within the new legal framework.

“The mayor’s announcement is a positive first step, but until the City has established a solution for converting the e-bikes currently being used to pedal-assist bicycles, we worry that delivery workers will continue to be criminalized,” Joe Cutrufo, a spokesperson for the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, wrote in an email.

Streetsblog, the bike and pedestrian advocacy site, echoed this sentiment on Twitter:

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Inbox: de Blasio says NYC will clarify e-bike rules to make pedal-assist bikes unambiguously legal. Good. City should also help delivery workers obtain pedal-assist bikes. Mayor owes it to them, to put it mildly.

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